Patient Preference and Adherence (Feb 2022)
Demand for Mobile Health in Developing Countries During COVID-19: Vietnamese’s Perspectives from Different Age Groups and Health Conditions
Abstract
Hung Long Nguyen,1,2,* Khoa Tran,1,* Phuong Le Nam Doan,1,2,* Tuyet Nguyen1,3,* 1Department of Youth Lab for Social Innovation, MiYork Research, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; 2Department of Biology, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City - High School for the Gifted, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; 3Department of Business, Minerva University, San Francisco, CA, USA*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Khoa TranYouth Lab for Social Innovation, MiYork Research, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Email [email protected]: Vietnam’s economy and intellectual standards have witnessed significant development, improving conditions for residents to acquire novel mHealth applications. Additionally, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced Vietnamese awareness of healthcare; however, previous studies have only been clinician-centered rather than customer-centered.Methods: This study addresses this literature gap by interviewing 50 Vietnamese participants grouped by age, namely Generation X, Generation Y, and Generation Z, and health conditions, namely whether participants or family members have chronic illness. The study utilized semi-structured and in-depth interviews to collect the data and used thematic analysis to analyze the data under the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology framework.Results: Most participants were willing to adopt this technology and demanded a convenient and user-friendly one-stop-shop solution, endorsements from credible and authoritative sources, and professional customer services. However, each group also had distinctive demands and behaviors.Conclusion: This study contributes theoretically by providing context-rich demand for Vietnamese customers across three generations and healthcare conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic and comparing their behavior with pre-COVID literature. While this research provides helpful information for potential app developers, this study also suggests that mHealth developers and policymakers should pay more attention to the differences in the demand of age groups and health conditions.Keywords: digital health, mhealth, pandemic, technology adoption, technology readiness, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology
